The Northern Lights made a stunning appearance across Irish skies on Friday night due to a rare solar storm and clear skies.
Aurora Borealis was visible in most parts of the country on Friday night but was particularly clear on the east coast.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the US has issued a rare Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch alert, the first such alert issued since 2005.
The NOAA said the storm is the result of strong solar flares that caused five outbursts of plasma capable of disrupting satellites in orbit and power grids on Earth.
The flares are associated with a sunspot 16 times larger than the Earth, the NOAA said.
A similar storm caused power outages in Sweden and South Africa in 2003.
Aurora Borealis is expected to be visible again on Saturday night, although fog could cause issues for some stargazers, according to Alan O'Reilly of Carlow Weather.
O'Reilly described the solar activity as reaching a "very high level not seen in many years".
O'Reilly encouraged stargazers to set up their phone camera in long-exposure mode on a tripod to capture the phenomenon due to the difficulty of seeing the Northern Lights with the naked eye.
Met Éireann meteorologist Siobhán Ryan said the lights will be visible again on Saturday night, particularly in the north and east of the country where conditions will be clearer.
"Even here in Dublin there's an outside chance of witnessing the Northern Lights, so best of luck everyone," Ryan said.
She said the best time to see the lights on Saturday is in the early evening and early night, in contrast to Friday night when the phenomenon was clearest at around midnight.
Irish stargazers shared stunning photos of the Northern Lights on social media Friday evening, showcasing spectacular Irish skies.
The Northern Lights are in our back garden. Our first time ever seeing them. Wow. 🥹🇮🇪❤️#auroraborealis #NorthernLights #countyoffaly #ireland pic.twitter.com/S1gYzsxVmX
— Louise McIntosh Artist (@InkyplotsArt) May 10, 2024
Incredible northern lights in Connemara tonight. #ireland #galway #northernlights #connemara pic.twitter.com/hMWceuGXUf
— John Romero 🤘🏽 (@romero) May 10, 2024
Northern lights over Carlow, Ireland. East / West orientation pic.twitter.com/tJNQtJ8xor
— Paul (@shortword) May 10, 2024
This is honestly the most incredible thing I’ve ever witnessed. Like to see the northern lights in Ireland? Wow pic.twitter.com/r15jypUDkV
— aoife 🤎🪐 (@heya0ife) May 10, 2024
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